Training Aspects’ personal trainers and sports performance coaches want you to accomplish your goals. You, as the personal training client, are a reflection of our personal training and group training methods! We are here to help you accomplish all of your personal training goals! Our main training focus are people looking to increase performance, lose weight , lose body fat and increase lean muscle. Whether you live in Cherry Hill, Haddonfield,Marlton, or any of the other surrounding areas we are here to help you Move, Look and feel as you’ve always desired…

These articles will be a good guide to see if ankle mobility is an issue for you and how to improve it to get the most out of the performance exercises in this article. We are going to break down the top 5 sports performance exercises to start optimizing your new ankle mobility and really amp up your performance level!

Sports Performance Exercise #1: Single Leg Box Jumps

Single leg box jumps are a great way to build single leg stability and power. Single leg allows you to evenly develop stability and power in both legs without the compensations that may happen in a bi-lateral (both legs) box jumps. This will transfer over to sport more efficiently since your typically pushing and striding off of one leg.

Sports Performance Exercise #2: Weighted Deep Squats

Weighted deep squats are a great way to work on your ankle mobility under load or weight. This allows for your ankle to gain stability in the newly mobilized position. Increased mobility in your ankle is great but only if you can stay stable in those new ranges of motion. (Remember only add weight when you can perform the exercise properly without it.)

Sports Performance Exercise #3: Single Leg Lateral Bounds

This exercise takes the single leg box jump a step further and adds a lateral aspect to it. The ability to laterally transfer your weight over, explode through your hips and ankle, all while keeping a stable ankle for landing.

Sports Performance Exercise #4: Depth Jumps

Depth jumps are a challenging exercise but must be done correctly. Depth jumps train your ankle and the rest of your body to absorb the force of the ground and use the elastic energy created by your ankle to propel your body into the air for a powerful jump. This elastic energy can only be created by a mobile but stable ankle.

Sports Performance Exercise #5: Sprints

Your sprint can only be as powerful as your ankle mobility will allow. If your ankle is too stiff you won’t be able to properly absorb the force of each foot strike leading to wasted energy and less power. This will also translate to poor running mechanics and potential injury down the road.

Training Aspects’ personal trainers and sports performance coaches want you to accomplish your goals. You, as the personal training client, are a reflection of our personal training and group training methods! We are here to help you accomplish all of your personal training goals! Our main training focus are people looking to increase performance, lose weight , lose body fat and increase lean muscle. Whether you live in Cherry Hill, Haddonfield,Marlton, or any of the other surrounding areas we are here to help you Move, Look and feel as you’ve always desired…

The goal creates the puzzle our habits create the pieces

New years resolutions are right around the corner. Goal setting becomes a focus until the first obstacle comes up and then the excuses start. “I’ll try again next year”… “things are too hectic right now”, ” my goal wasn’t realistic.”. The goal isn’t unrealistic because the person is incapable of accomplishing it but they’re unwilling to sacrifice what is needed to see success. Goal setting is an interesting phenomenon. A person will imagine what it would feel like to accomplish the goal, envision it and may even begin to plan what it’ll take to make it work. Then either they take to long to act on it letting it go from achievable to an inconceivable task or they start but don’t account for the social influence or change of priorities.

Goal setting is a great way to start but is usually a short-term commitment. In the health and wellness world specifically, Habits allow for true success or failure. Why we do what we do starts from an action, that action, when reinforced becomes a habit. The habits we create shape our life, our friends, associates, hobbies, weekly activities, what we prioritize.

Setting goals challenge us to grow and adjust our life, as needed, to achieve our overall “life goal puzzle”. It’s important to set goals that you are willing to incorporate into your life. If the goal begins to evolve into other parts of your life, then it may be possible that the pieces that are in place are in the wrong puzzle.

Training Aspects’ personal trainers and sports performance coaches want you to accomplish your goals. You, as the personal training client, are a reflection of our personal training and group training methods! We are here to help you accomplish all of your personal training goals! Our main training focus are people looking to increase performance, lose weight , lose body fat and increase lean muscle. Whether you live in Cherry Hill, Haddonfield,Marlton, or any of the other surrounding areas we are here to help you Move, Look and feel as you’ve always desired…

Fresh Fruit Ice pops

It’s getting colder outside. That’s ok, everyone can use a healthy, crunchy, sweet alternative for a dessert. We found this recipe by Debbie. Check out her page. She gives more details of the process. However, we made a small adjustment in the recipe. The point of the recipe is to use fresh fruit. Then we might as well use fresh fruit for the whole process. In the recipe we adjusted using apple juice to making your own mix of water and lemon. That simple, take a lemon cut it and squeeze the lemon juice into the water.

Ingredients:

2 Kiwis

1 lemon

Bottle of Essentia water (filtered works too)

2 Peaches

1 cup Strawberries

½ cup Raspberries

½ cup Blueberries

Instructions:

Peel and slice the kiwis and peaches into ¼” slices

Slice the strawberries into thirds.

Press the strawberry, kiwi and peach slices into the bottom of each mold. Use a popsicle stick to press them against the sides of the mold.

Add blueberries and raspberries to fill the gaps.

Add as much fruit as you can fit into the mold, continuing to press it against the sides.

mix water with fresh squeezed lemon.

Fill the molds with Fresh squeezed water and lemon leaving about ?” space at the top for the juice to expand when it freezes.

Freeze the popsicles overnight.

Run the molds under hot water to help the popsicles release.

Let us know your experience making them, how easy, hard, fun how ever it turns out. Was it a nice change up, can it help you with your cravings? Enjoy!

Training Aspects’ personal trainers and sports performance coaches want you to accomplish your goals. You, as the personal training client, are a reflection of our personal training and group training methods! We are here to help you accomplish all of your personal training goals! Our main training focus are people looking to increase performance, lose weight , lose body fat and increase lean muscle. Whether you live in Cherry Hill, Haddonfield,Marlton, or any of the other surrounding areas we are here to help you Move, Look and feel as you’ve always desired…

Corrective Ways to Improve Ankle Mobility Part 2

Muscle Activations

What are Activations?

Typically there are many muscles in the body that will get under active or under used from muscle imbalances developed. This is where muscle activations come into play. Muscle activation exercises can increase the activity of that under used muscle.

How it Can Help

After you have already released, stretched and mobilized the affected area, activating the under used muscles can help bring back balance to the muscles and increase movement to the joints involved. Performance specific training can now be increased because muscles that were inactive and not part of the movement process, can now move efficiently and create the necessary power to move pain/wear and tear free.

Integrative Exercises

What is an Integrative Exercise?

An exercise that requires the body as whole to work together and activate all the necessary muscles to perform the movement efficiently.

How it Helps

This is the final piece to the puzzle. Integrative exercises help you develop stability, power and proper movement. Without integrating the movements, in most cases, doesn’t mean the process is complete. By integrating the movement back into daily life, the movement becomes a regular movement.

Training Aspects’ personal trainers and sports performance coaches want you to accomplish your goals. You, as the personal training client, are a reflection of our personal training and group training methods! We are here to help you accomplish all of your personal training goals! Our main training focus are people looking to increase performance, lose weight , lose body fat and increase lean muscle. Whether you live in Cherry Hill, Haddonfield,Marlton, or any of the other surrounding areas we are here to help you Move, Look and feel as you’ve always desired…

Tell us your story … Tell us your goal

Share your Health, fitness, sports performance story! Use the Hashtag: TAstories in an Instagram post. Get creative. The best story will be picked by the Training Aspects team plus 3 outside people and … The Instagram people.

#TAstories step 1.

Make a video or picture(s) for an instagram post. Make sure to Tag Training aspects in the post and add the #TAstories to the description. You may post as many times as you would like! to get some examples click on #tastories and there are already a few examples available. There is no limitation, Whether you are looking to lose weight, need help making a sports team or just want to be healthy for your family. Whatever your story, share it! #TAstories is open to all.

#TAstories Step 2.

We will repost them on the Training Aspects instagram. The top 3 stories that get the most attention(Likes commnets, engagmnet) will be picked.

#TAstories Step 3.

The top 3 winners will meet with us in person for the final interview. The job of the winner will be to document (post on instagram) their 4 month journey to accomplishing their goal. We will also, ask (only the actual winner) for a financial deposit that will be returned at the end of the 4 months.

The fitness industry has so many trainers, products, equipment, techniques and often makes personal training to be a luxury or a service thats used here and there. We want to show the experience of a dedicated training client. If you pick the right training program and you truly commit to learning and practice patients you can change your life! Training is not just about losing weight but truly feeling confident in your movement, your appearance and the way you feel. Like anything great it takes time and work. Move, Look, Feel as you’ve always desired!

Training Aspects’ personal trainers and sports performance coaches want you to accomplish your goals. You, as the personal training client, are a reflection of our personal training and group training methods! We are here to help you accomplish all of your personal training goals! Our main training focus are people looking to increase performance, lose weight , lose body fat and increase lean muscle. Whether you live in Cherry Hill, Haddonfield,Marlton, or any of the other surrounding areas we are here to help you Move, Look and feel as you’ve always desired…

Corrective Ways to Improve Ankle Mobility Part 1

There are many techniques that may help improve your ankle mobility. Manual muscle release, self myofascial release, stretching, mobilizations, muscle activations and integrations to name a few. Let’s break down techniques and how to implement them to get the most effective results.

Myofascial Muscle Release

What’s a Release?

When we overuse certain muscles they can develop tight spots (trigger points). These trigger points can start to create pain. The goal of myofascial release is to apply pressure to these trigger points until they release.

Types

The two most popular types, manual and self releases. Manual releases involves another person, usually a physical therapist using their hands to release the muscle. Self releases involve a release tool like a foam roller or softball and the person performing the release for themselves.

How It Can Help

By applying the pressure to these trigger points it will start to loosen and allow the muscle to properly lengthen. Once the muscle is properly lengthened you can efficiently move on to the next steps like mobilizations and stretches.

Joint Mobilizations

What’s a Mobilization?

Many of our joints become stiff over time from not moving enough or having poor movement habits. Joint mobilizations increase mobility through isolated body movements that target specific joints. These mobilizations can only be performed optimally following muscle release. The releases will allow for proper length of the muscle leading to increased mobilization.

How It Can Help

Joint mobilizations help improve mobility of the joint, once that is achieved you can start improving movement patterns while exercising. It will also help you re-pattern these important joint movements back into your brain so they become habit. These habits will lead to less pain and injury.

Stretching

The regular outlook on Stretching?

Stretching feels great! However, being too flexible is just as bad as not being flexible. If the body is unable to move a certain way and you continue to push to push it past the limit. You may not realize that your body may have a restriction. Instead of the stretch being effective it’s actually stretching something totally different then planned.

When to Stretch?

Stretching is most beneficial after incorporating the above 2 techniques. Releases and mobilizations allow for the muscles to be properly lengthened. This is when stretching is most beneficial and can actually lengthen the muscle.

How It Can Help

Properly lengthening the muscles can put the joints and muscles into proper position allowing for strengthening exercises to be more beneficial and less likely to injure you!

Check back next week to get the continuation and second part to this article, it will include videos on how to improve.

Training Aspects’ personal trainers and sports performance coaches want you to accomplish your goals. You, as the personal training client, are a reflection of our personal training and group training methods! We are here to help you accomplish all of your personal training goals! Our main training focus are people looking to increase performance, lose weight , lose body fat and increase lean muscle. Whether you live in Cherry Hill, Haddonfield,Marlton, or any of the other surrounding areas we are here to help you Move, Look and feel as you’ve always desired…

Signs You Need to Improve Ankle Mobility

On a run, feeling great, out of no where there’s a weird pain in your ankle/knee. The usual response “oh it will work itself out,” just push through it . After the run calves are tight or maybe the dull pain comes back. You can barely walk the next day but you say “what a great run! I can really feel it.” Although it may feel like your making great progress (you know the all wise saying.. if you’re not sore you didnt do anything) these could actually be signs of something that is hindering your performance and adding up to a potential injury.

Sign of Ankle Dysfunction 1: Pain in Ankle, Knee, Hip

Pain is the most obvious sign that something is wrong. However, pain in your knee doesn’t necessarily mean the issue is your knee. Pain is a puzzle piece, the issue is the puzzle! Pain can make its way up to the knee and even the hip if the ankles are too stiff. Any time we walk, run, or jump the impact starts at the foot and ankle and then works its way up the chain. If the ankle lacks the mobility to absorb the shock of the impact it can send the shock up the chain to either the knee or hip. Leading to the knee or hip joint to overwork and compensate for the lack of mobility at the ankle leading to pain.

Sign of Ankle Dysfunction 2: Feet Turn Out

This is a big indicator that something is off. Even if you don’t feel pain, yet, with your feet turning out, it can be a sign of an injury brewing. Feet turning out is typically a sign of overactive calves and an under active anterior tibialis (shin area). If you have ever had shin splints this is one of the reasons why. This imbalance of the muscles of the lower leg causes the feet to not be able to dorsiflex properly. Lack of dorsiflexion doesn’t allow for proper force absorption when landing while running or jumping. This will also lead to the knees collapsing inward creating a lot of unwanted force at the knee joint. Repeat that motion over and over again and you have an injury waiting to happen.

Sign of Ankle Dysfunction 3: Your Calves are Always Tight

If your calves are sore or tight after eachworkout, there may be something wrong. This tightness or soreness can lead to the problems described above, starting with your feet turning out and then eventually pain and injury. So be careful when going by the “feeling the burn” or “no pain no gain” theories. Though you must challenge your muscles to progress, soreness is not always a sign of positive growth.

Stay tuned for next weeks article, tips on how to correct basic ankle dysfunction.

Training Aspects’ personal trainers and sports performance coaches want you to accomplish your goals. You, as the personal training client, are a reflection of our personal training and group training methods! We are here to help you accomplish all of your personal training goals! Our main training focus are people looking to increase performance, lose weight , lose body fat and increase lean muscle. Whether you live in Cherry Hill, Haddonfield,Marlton, or any of the other surrounding areas we are here to help you Move, Look and feel as you’ve always desired…